Month: October 2018

Avoiding Resignation with Addiction

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30 October 2018

As an addiction specialist offering addiction services, I have yet to meet a patient who enjoys being addicted to drugs. Addiction is a chronic illness around which is a great deal of confusion, few people know what to do. Faced with someone who appears to be driving heedlessly into the abyss, families often fight, freeze or flee, unable to figure out how to help.

Consider the opioid epidemic. This month, this news organization estimated that more than 300,000 Americans will die of drug overdoses in the next five years. Why are health professionals and the government not acting on this knowledge? Tradition? Prejudice? Utmost stupidity? The answer is sometimes all three.

Often times we scroll the sidebar reading about the passing of great actors and celebrities, such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Heath Ledger, Michael Jackson, and Prince. But what about those who stray off course closer to home, who don’t get the huge publicity? The suburban middle-aged man, who is a credible business man and decorated community leader but passed from pancreatitis due to chronic alcohol use. Or the aspiring young woman who quietly finished her first marathon and worked unglamorously towards saving for her first house, but OD’d on heroin.

I can assure you that there is no as yet undiscovered riddle to these people, the disease of addiction recognizes none of these distinctions. It is indiscriminate, it is sad, it is irrational, and it is hard to understand. But what we should articulate, as I have outlined in this youtube video explaining my treatment of addiction, is that these deaths are unnecessary and something should be done. Fortunately, our brains are remarkably plastic. I know it is far easier said than done, but there is a way to find control and life without drugs. For those brave enough to share, recovery stories such as this are incredible and worth every effort.

BPC Good Eats: Doritos Taco Salad

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27 October 2018

Hello and thank you reading my blog at Beyond Primary Care and trying the BPC Good Eats recipes. This featured recipe is a Doritos Taco Salad. These recipes are my attempt, in a way, to bridge that Doctor’s adage of “Eat Better & Exercise More.” In this post, I will showcase a healthy meal made on a budget, my pictures are pretty decent, and that is how I got into this food endeavor.

Instructions1) Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat, breaking it up into pieces as it cooks. Once 90% cooked, cover skillet and drain cooking juices over sink, return to stove.2) Add taco seasoning to beef and stir until cooked and well coated. Set aside, cover to keep warm.3) Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine lettuce, tomato, cheese.4) Add beef to large bowl along with doritos and dressing, toss to coat.

Suction Bulb, Our Sinus Savior

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25 October 2018

The picture is a plastic suction bulb, or ‘booger sucker’ as newborn parents like to say. You can find these in most stores, typically in the newborn section for $1-2. Why am I posting about this you ask? Suction bulbs allow us to do nasal rinses. The traditional method has been the net pot, but I prefer the suction bulb. Nasal rinses are an ancient practice that has been shown to have benefit relieving both allergy and cold symptoms.

Essentially, it involves sending a stream of saline (salt-water) solution up one side of your nose and back out. No, I do not believe it has to go in one nostril and out the other. Gag! The act of bathing the turbinates and sinuses in saline water is all this is required, along with a thorough blowing of the nose afterwards.

You can buy individual packets to mix with water, but because my readers are thrifty- I suspect they want to make their own. To make your own:

Place the tip (not entire nose piece) of the nozzle into the nostril aiming slightly away from the septum (the midline wall the divides your nostrils).

Lean your head forward, and squeeze the saline water aiming for the back of the eyeballs.

Repeat with the other side, allow the water to drain, and blow your nose with tissue.

Yes, what comes out is disgusting and you may get a salty taste in your mouth, but you will feel better. I typically advise people to rinse x4-8 per day. The bottom line is the more you do this, the better you will feel- quicker.

Family Medicine: For The Entire Family

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23 October 2018

At Beyond Primary Care, we have a narrow focus- you and your family. Dr. O’Boyle is a dually board certified Family Medicine Doctor, and sees children of all ages, whether that is for the urgent needs, school physicals, check-ups, or that mysterious illness that you have questions about.

One of Dr. O’Boyle’s biggest annoyances of traditional physician offices are their limited hours and seemingly robotic answers from the on-call services. Does your child only get sick between 9 AM and 5 PM, Monday through Friday? If they do get sick during this time period, you have endless ability to take off time from your work (usually a half-day or more) to be seen at the office? Experience the on-call doctor reading the hospital script that if your child is sick you should take them to an urgent care or emergency room? Then the wait time at these locations!

At Beyond Primary Care, we will work with you to make time for convenient appointments, whether you need to be seen traditional working times or after-hours. Additionally, we because we know you so well, we offer our patients ‘virtual home visits,’ or ‘tele-medicine.’ Many illnesses can be diagnosed and treated with a simple conversation by phone or webcam. There is no corporate legalese with Dr. O’Boyle. When you enroll and call, you speak directly to Dr. O’Boyle and will get unabridged advice and care.

What are the benefits of having your family enroll in a direct primary care practice? According to this newspaper, DPC patients are 52 percent less likely to require hospitalization than patients under a traditional model. By providing the vast majority of care needed at the primary care level, a DPC doctor can allow a person to purchase the bare minimum insurance policy that is right for their family. The savings with this alone can be thousands of dollars each year.

BPC Good Eats: Apple Harvest Salad

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22 October 2018

Hello and thank you reading my blog at Beyond Primary Care and trying the BPC Good Eats recipes. This featured recipe is a Apple Harvest Salad. These recipes are my attempt, in a way, to bridge that Doctor’s adage of “Eat Better & Exercise More.” In this post, I will showcase a healthy meal made on a budget, my pictures are pretty decent, and that is how I got into this food endeavor.

Instructions:1) Whisk together dressing ingredients in a small bowl or measuring cup until completely combined, set aside or divide into smaller containers for individual lunches.2) Place diced apple in a small bowl and squeeze lemon over the bowl. Toss apple in lemon juice to coat (this will prevent browning).3) Divide salad ingredients among the containers, layering in the following: greens, apples, cranberries, and cheese.4) When ready to serve, empty the dressing containers onto the salad, top with pecans, and toss to coat.

BPC Good Eats: Hot Dog Hash

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19 October 2018

Hello and thank you reading my blog at Beyond Primary Care and trying the BPC Good Eats recipes. This featured recipe is a Hot Dog Hash. These recipes are my attempt, in a way, to bridge that Doctor’s adage of “Eat Better & Exercise More.” In this post, I will showcase a healthy meal made on a budget, my pictures are pretty decent, and that is how I got into this food endeavor.

Open House at Beyond Primary Care, 2018

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17 October 2018

Beyond Primary Care is hosting an open house this month and next month!

Friday October 26th, 2018 @ Noon

Friday November 2nd, 2018 @ Noon

Friday November 9th, 2018 @ Noon

All open house events start approximately at noon. Dr. O’Boyle will discuss his clinic Beyond Primary Care, and the movement of Direct Primary Care, for approximately 10 minutes. Afterwards he will take questions from anyone. If your question is really good, it may end up on our FAQ page!

Can’t make these dates or times but still interested? Don’t worry, just contact us or call 734-395-2850. We will work with your schedule to arrange a time where you can visit the clinic and discuss your health care!

Hearing about Beyond Primary Care for the first time? Beyond Primary Care is a family medicine clinic and a part of a new way for patients to access medical care called ‘direct primary care.’ The model is membership based health care, where the patient pays a monthly fee directly to the clinic. The doctor provides the patient with primary medical care without insurance or government involvement. The patients get great access at a low, predictable cost, about the same as a cell phone or cable plan. This model allows the clinic to offer innovative services to further add value to the membership.

Affordable Blood Work

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16 October 2018

Did I mention that at Beyond Primary Care in Ann Arbor Michigan, we aim to bring affordable blood work to you by being 100% transparent about our pricing? I have mentioned this before about individual medications, but after all, there is more than just medications to be transparent about.

Can you remember an instance where a doctor advised you to get blood work done, but they didn’t know if your insurance would cover it or even how much it would cost? There are examples of this occurring all the time in the news. Such as a $17,000 bill for a urine drug screen or owing $478 dollars for a complete blood count and comprehensive metabolic panel (Our shameless self-promoting plug, Beyond Primary Care’s total price for these tests is $17.28). As a personal example, my wife recently got blood work for what the doctors described as a nominal cost. Yet, the explanation of benefits we received stated the insurance would not cover the tests, which are priced at 4-figures! Upon discovering this and discussing with both the insurance and the doctor’s office, no one has yet to give us reassurances or answers. No transparency there.

The jury is still out on my personal experience, but you can avoid the headaches and uncertainty of this type of disjointed healthcare. At Beyond Primary Care, if lab work is needed, Dr. O’Boyle will discuss with you the reason for the blood work and discuss the total costs of the blood work before beginning. Dr. O’Boyle performs his own blood draws (naturally at no additional cost to you), and then finally sends them out to be interpreted at those agreed upon reduced costs.

What about those affordable blood work results? Dr. O’Boyle will communicate with you what the laboratory study means, perhaps in office, through a phone call, or a text- just to give you peace of mind. That is comprehensive family medicine.

BPC Good Eats: Apple Scones with Apple Cinnamon Glaze

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15 October 2018

Hello and thank you reading my blog at Beyond Primary Care and trying the BPC Good Eats recipes. This featured recipe is a Apple Scone with Apple Cinnamon Glaze. These recipes are my attempt, in a way, to bridge that Doctor’s adage of “Eat Better & Exercise More.” In this post, I will showcase a healthy meal made on a budget, my pictures are pretty decent, and that is how I got into this food endeavor.

Instructions:1) Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.2) Heat a saute pan over low-medium heat. Dice all the apples, add to the saute pan with 1 tablespoon sugar. Heat until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool.3) In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients.4) Grate butter into flour mixture on the large holes of a box grater; use your fingers to work in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.5) In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt and egg until smooth. Add in the sauted apple.6) Using a fork, stir yogurt mixture into flour mixture until large dough clumps form. Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball. The dough will be crumbly at first, but as you press, the dough will come together.7) Place on a lightly floured surface and pat into a 7-inch circle about ¾-inch thick. Use a pizza cutter to cut into 8 triangles; place on prepared baking sheet, about 1 inch apart.8) Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes and prepare the glaze.9) In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together all of the glaze ingredients. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle over the warm scones and enjoy.

BPC Good Eats: Artichoke and Rice Filled Peppers

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12 October 2018

Hello and thank you reading my blog at Beyond Primary Care and trying the BPC Good Eats recipes. This featured recipe is a Artichoke and Rice Filled Pepper. These recipes are my attempt, in a way, to bridge that Doctor’s adage of “Eat Better & Exercise More.” In this post, I will showcase a healthy meal made on a budget, my pictures are pretty decent, and that is how I got into this food endeavor.

Instructions:1) Preheat oven to 375F.2) Place the bell peppers in the oven while pre-heating to soften the peppers, about 10-15 minutes.2) Bring rice and water to boil in a saucepan and cook per package instructions, between 20-30 minutes.3) Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, add green onions and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.4) After green onion and garlic are fragrant, add artichoke hearts, tomatoes, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir in mixture until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in rice when tender and water is absorbed.5) Crumble and add about 1-2 teaspoons of feta cheese to the bottom of each bell pepper. Place bell peppers into a baking dish.6) Spoon rice mixture into the bell peppers, pressing down, saving enough rice mixture for each bell pepper. Top with feta cheese.7) Bake for 30-40 minutes until feta cheese is melted and bell peppers are softened.